Crescent Moon
by Geneth
Summary: Bella and Edward are forced to travel to the Big Apple in hopes of convincing a powerful coven that Renesmee is not an immortal child. But what they don't expect are four vampires with powers far superior to anything they've ever seen...Post Breaking Dawn
1. Chapter 1

Bella

"Come on, Nessie! Try some, please?"

Renesmee frowned at the plate I set before her. She sniffed in and delicately scowled. "But it smells funny…"

I looked at the plate of raw hamburger I had placed in front of her and silently agreed. Ever since Nahuel had told us that he, a human/vampire, could eat some human foods, I had tried to convince Renesmee that she should try some too. And since Edward and I wanted to keep her on a still blood diet, we decided to try raw foods before we used the cooked food.

I forced a smile. "Just one bite?"

Nessie picked up her fork and speared a small piece of meat. She sniffed it again, popped it into her mouth, and dramatically swallowed. She blinked then gave a crooked smile that she had picked up after watching Edward smile.

"Do you like it?"

"Hmm…" Nessie took another bite and this time chewed thoroughly. "I think I might just like it more than doe…"

I heard a chuckle and turned to see Edward leaning in the doorframe. He wrinkled his nose. "Bella, love, can Nessie eat that outside next time? It's bad enough that Jacob spends most of his time here smelling like he does, but do you really need to bring another animal into the house?"

I shrugged. Edward had really taken into calling the cottage our "house" because we had finally settled quite comfortably in it. Nessie had been begging us to paint her room but, when we refused, she had gone to Alice. Of course, Alice couldn't resist and now Nessie's room was creamy white and chocolate brown. Nessie laughed. "It's really good, Daddy. You want to try some?" She extended her fork and waved it in front of him.

Edward smiled and politely pushed the fork away. "Maybe later, Nessie. How about we go see the family?"

"Yay!" Renesmee cheered and pushed the food away, her new interest forgotten. I shot Edward a look, to which he smiled slightly at. Nessie jumped onto Edward's back and nudged him with her feet. Edward took my hand and, after closing the cottage door, we started running towards the house. Once the house was in sight, Nessie promptly jumped off Edward and experimented with her own running skills. She was fast for a human, but somewhat slow for a vampire.

I skidded to a stop at the back door and opened it quietly. I listened carefully and heard them from the living room. Renesmee had not stopped running and flew past me to greet her extended family. Edward chuckled and we followed her.

I almost burst into laughter when I saw what the family was doing. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were all sitting around the coffee table playing poker. Alice stood to the front of the table, playing dealer. "I see to your bet, Rose, and I raise you five hundred," Jasper said coolly, pushing a large pile of chips into the center of the table.

Emmett folded but Rosalie smiled angelically. She pushed her own chips into the center. "Okay, Jazz, what do you have?"

"House of Kings," Jasper said, showing the cards to her.

"House of Aces," Rosalie retorted, collecting the chips from the table.

Esme chuckled as she watched from the couch behind them. I looked around and noticed a family member missing. "Where's Carlisle?" I asked Esme.

"He's in his study." Esme frowned slightly in disapproval. "He's been in there a lot lately. I wonder what's going on…"

Edward and I watched with amusement as Renesmee sat down at the table, eager to know what kind of game they were playing. After watching a couple of hands, she joined in. It wasn't long before she had a large pile of chips in front of her, with Emmett and Jasper with only ten chips left.

I heard a door close and looked up. Carlisle appeared from the hall and walked somewhat slowly towards the living room. His face was full of concern. Edward stared curiously at him, reading his thoughts. He blinked and looked confused. Clearly, Carlisle had something to say.

Carlisle cleared his throat and the poker players looked up. "What's wrong, Carlisle?" asked Esme as she beckoned him to sit next to her.

"Everything," Carlisle replied tiredly as he plopped onto the couch.

We all looked curiously at him. Everything? Just one year ago, we had fought against the Volturi and won. Just one year ago, I had joined the family with my newfound gift. Just one year ago, it had been chaos. But now, it seemed calm.

"What do you mean?" Jasper finally asked.

Carlisle sighed. "When we were gaining allies before we fought with the Volturi, I had called all of my own friends to join us. It occurred to me only a week ago that I had forgotten an important coven. This coven could fairly easily bring us to dust."

"The Liberty Coven," Edward murmured.

"Yes, the Liberty Coven. This coven is one of the strongest and most powerful covens in the entire world."

Nessie hopped into Carlisle's lap. "I don't understand. I thought you and Daddy said that the Volturi was strongest coven with the most threatening vampires of all…"

Carlisle smiled at her. "Although the Volturi is strong, Liberty is said to be stronger. And, unfortunately for us, they have just learned of you, Renesmee."

It took a moment for his words to sink in. "How did they find out?" I asked.

"Liberty has many people who fear them, some of which are humans. They do not care who sees them use their talents, as long as that person is dead after a short period. One human was a witness to the Volturi battle. That foolish human had poor hearing so he didn't quite understand the whole purpose of the battle. So, all he reported was that a vampire baby was born and the Volturi was fighting over it."

"Are we going to have to fight them?" Rosalie asked Alice.

Alice stared off into space and blinked. "I don't see anything, Rose…" She looked at Carlisle to explain.

"Liberty has an illusionist," he explained, "But let me finish my thought. I have talked with the coven leader, Jennifer, if she would meet us to discuss the whole matter. After careful consideration from the other members of the coven, they have agreed to meet with two representatives of our family in their own home and perhaps come to a better conclusion."

I looked at Edward and his now understanding face. "You wish to send Bella and me to meet with them?" he asked.

Carlisle nodded. "I thought it would be the best choice, with both your gifts and also the fact that you are the parents of dear Nessie."

Edward sat, thoughtfully. He turned to me. "Would you be willing to go through that, love?"

"If it is for the sake of our daughter," I replied carefully.

"Before we send you off," Carlisle interrupted, "I wish to tell you of the dangers and the abilities of Liberty. I had to talk to many other friends in order to give you a proper retell of their strengths. Besides, that way, you may be able to influence them further."

"Of course," Edward replied.

"Very well then. Of course, there is the leader, Jennifer. Jennifer is one of the most remarkable vampires ever to exist. She possesses on of the strangest and most deadly gift. She can cause you to instantly die."

"Instantly die?" Emmett asked in disbelief.

"With just one touch, Jennifer can cause humans to die but vampires to go into a coma. Once in that coma, you are trapped in a world that you cannot escape. Because her gift is so dangerous, Jennifer uses it for the use of money. People will hire her to kill a certain person, which she will do quite easily, and then collect the sum of money she orders them to pay.

"Then, there is her mate, Jesse. Jesse is called the perfect match for Jennifer because his gift is the exact opposite of hers. Jesse can raise the dead, or when a vampire is in a coma, he can instantly revive them. He can also enter the world where you are trapped in and sometimes, he persuades vampires to join the Liberty side. After they are convinced, he revives them and they begin to support Liberty.

"Then, there is the illusionist, Claudiena. Claudiena is similar to Zafrina but somewhat more advanced. Once she projects her illusion out of her and into someone else, she can make that person feel and hear everything to match the illusion. For example, let's say she projected you to be in the center of a lion attack. You would feel the lions clawing at you but have no visible injuries. She can also use her talent on other people's gifts."

"So, she created an illusion of a perfect ordinary day so I couldn't see into the future?" Alice asked.

"Yes. She can also use illusions to cause a mind reader, like Edward, to hear another thought. She joined with Liberty after Jennifer discovered just how useful she would be. Finally, there is Tomas, Claudiena's creator but also her mate. Tomas trained Claudiena and later the two fell in love. Tomas can freeze people."

"He puts them in a block of ice, like in those old superhero movies?" asked Nessie eagerly.

Carlisle chuckled. "He physically freezes a certain object. For example, he can freeze a body, an animal, a storm…Even a heart. He can just simply hold up his hand and that object will completely stop."

Edward frowned. "This sounds extremely dangerous, Carlisle. How do we know that Liberty won't try and trick us?"

"Honestly? We don't. We just have to hope that they only want to talk or else we declare war with them."

"Bella and I love Renesmee. We will go…" Edward replied.

"Excellent. You leave tomorrow…"


	2. Chapter 2

Edward

The plan seemed simple. We would meet with the entire Liberty clan in New York and try to persuade them that Nessie was not an immortal child. If we were to succeed, we would fly back to Forks and resume our lives. If we were to fail, I was to call Carlisle and tell him to prepare to battle.

But what if we were to be ambushed once we arrived? What if the coven leader, Jennifer, were to simply shake our hands? In an instant, I would be separated from Bella and my only companions would be loneliness and Jennifer's mate, Jesse, who would be trying to persuade me to join forces with Liberty. Maybe that's what this whole ideal was. To make us die and then make us join their growing forces.

I surely hoped that Bella and her shield would protect us all.

_Edward? Edward? We're almost there…What are you thinking?_

Esme sat in the front seat of the car, blinking innocently at the review mirror.

I shrugged back to her and accidentally elbowed Bella in the process. Bella jumped. She had been staring out the window, deep in thought. I had tried to ask her what she was thinking but she was too preoccupied to notice. Nessie was full of life; jumping up and down in her car seat by the window. She asked in her mind if Bella and I would be riding those big airplanes.

I nodded and forced myself to smile in return.

Carlisle stopped the car in front of the airport. I unbuckled my seatbelt quickly and patiently waited for Bella to realize that we were here. When she didn't respond, I reached over and unbuckled the seatbelt for her. She finally reacted by mumbling apologies under her breath.

"What's wrong, love?" I asked.

"Just…nervous I suppose."

I smiled and gently pulled her out of the car. "I am, too…" I admitted.

Bella widened her eyes slightly but then smiled slightly back. "I'm more nervous than battling the Volturi…"

I chuckled. "You are a wonderful yet strange creation."

Nessie had unbuckled her car seat buckle and hopped out of the door. Bella smiled softly and picked her up. Nessie touched her forehead and Bella kissed her back in response. I listened to Nessie's thoughts and an image of Nessie pacing by the front door of the house appeared in her mind.

Nessie hopped out of Bella's arms and onto my back. She touched my forehead. An image of her beating me in a race appeared. I laughed. "You have fun with Uncle Jacob, okay Nessie?"

"Uncle Jacob's baby-sitting?!" Nessie jumped out of my arms and ran towards the car. Esme laughed lightly.

_Be safe, Edward._

"I will, Mom."

Esme gave us each a big hug and went back to the car to strap Nessie back in. Carlisle appeared with our suitcases.

_Edward, remember. Do not fight with them unless they threaten you or Bella. I'll have my cell phone on at all times. Take your time with them. And remember, winter in New York is still sunny._

I nodded back and took the suitcases from him.

I stepped up to the airport counter. The woman's forced smile became full of warmth. Her heartbeat quickened. _Hell-lo handsome. For once, this job is useful. _"Good afternoon sir. How may I help you?"

I used the voice that Bella used to claim "dazzled" her. "I would like two first class tickets to New York, please."

_New Yorker, huh? I always liked the Yankees…_"Certainly. One way?" the woman asked.

"Yes, please." I smiled at her and the heartbeat paced faster. _Oh. My. God. I think he likes me!!_

As the tickets printed out, the woman began to scribble her number on a little pos-it next to her. "So, who is the other ticket for, mister…Cullen?" _Please say mother. Please say mother._

I almost laughed. I was pretty sure Bella had heard her speak because at that moment, she appeared at my side. I wrapped my arm around her waist. "The other is for my wife. We're going on…a second honeymoon." On cue, Bella smiled cheekily at the woman.

The woman looked her up and down._ Figures, a good-looking guy for a good-looking girl. They could model together. Wait, did he say married? Darn it! _The woman smiled falsely and crumbled the post-it in her hand.

"What is she thinking?" Bella whispered in my ear.

"Shh…I'm dazzling her," I murmured back.

Bella's grin grew wider and I think she was holding back laughter.

The newly designed first class seats were quite peculiar. They were shaped like eggs and a piece of two-way glass could be pulled out of the armrest for privacy. Bella found this hilarious and sat promptly in her chair, with mock properness.

"I feel like an egg yoke," she said, bursting into laughter. It somewhat suited her, for Alice had insisted that she wear a sunflower yellow sundress. But her laughter was somewhat forced and I waited for her to stop. She continued for several minutes and I could almost swear that the pilot could hear her too.

I sat in the egg next to her and took her hand. She stopped laughing and instantly calmed down. I could feel her tension leave her system. I rubbed my thumb in the center of her palm. Bella leaned back and relaxed on the yellow cushion of the egg. "Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so nervous? Is it the fact that this group is so powerful or is it the fact that you're so beleaguered?"

Bella blushed slightly. "It's just the fact that…we're fighting for Renesmee all over again, Edward. The first battle took months of hard preparation and growing allies. We only had one day and no allies for this battle. How do we not know that Liberty won't attack us as soon as the plane lands? How do we know that they're even 'vegetarians'?"

I smiled slightly at her. "We don't, love. But, when you love someone, you defend them to the end." I leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, which was actually quite difficult to do. I had to lift up the armrest, lean over, pull the protection thing that surrounded the headrest off, life up her armrest, and then give her a kiss.

Bella chuckled through my troubles. I took her hand just as the pilot announced that we were about to lift off. I hadn't notice the other people enter the plane but now, as I pulled the armrest back down, I noticed the fast heartbeat of the woman in the seat across from me. She was suddenly pretending to read her book but as I listened to her heartbeat go even faster, I chuckled and kissed Bella's hand.

It was going to be a long flight…


	3. Chapter 3

Bella

When we landed in JFK airport in New York, the sky was muggy and overcast, just as Alice predicted. Edward went to fetch our bags and I volunteered to go hail a taxi. As I stepped outside, into the stale air, I felt like all eyes were suddenly at me. The door attendant tipped his hat to me and five men with briefcases stopped waving their hands in the air to stare at me. I hadn't been in contact with humans since before my transformation so I blushed at all of the attention.

Several taxis went to fetch the other people standing on the sidewalk. I decided to use my looks to my advantage. I stepped onto the tip of the sidewalk and looked at an incoming taxi. It was a human in his mid twenties, staring ahead at the road. I focused on him until he turned his head my way. Once he saw me, I looked straight into his dark eyes, then smiled innocently at him. I heard his heartbeat quicken instantly. He cut across two cars to pull to a stop in front of me.

I opened the door. "Hello," I said, pleasantly.

"H-h-hello, ma'am. Where to?"

"Do you know where the Algonquin hotel is?"

"Of course ma'am."

As he punched the name into a little GPS system attached the dashboard of the car, Edward appeared with our bags. "That moving trolley could not have been slower. So sorry you had to wait, love." For this trip, Edward and I would play a newly married couple. Edward had the typical New Yorker thing down. I didn't know about me though.

"No problem, sweetie. I got us a taxi," I replied with my attempt at words dipped in honey.

I could almost hear the taxi driver's face fall. Edward loaded the suitcases into the trunk and we both climbed in.

Being married to Edward is like married to an ATM. I realized that after we had gotten into our hotel suite. He had tipped the taxi driver a fifty I think, paid for the room without asking for change, and later gave the bellhop a hundred. As I threw my clothing into a dresser, I brought the topic up. "Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

"I don't mean this in a rude way…But where the heck do you get all the money?"

Edward raised his eyebrows. Suddenly, a look of realization crossed his face as he considered how to answer. "Well, when you've worked for half of your life…"

"Oh…Oh!"

Edward smiled and as he placed his own clothing into his dresser, I heard him chuckle slightly.

We weren't supposed to meet up with Liberty until tomorrow, and the sky was still overcast, so Edward suggested I should enjoy our stay in New York while it lasted. We took pictures at the Time Square and took an extremely slow ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I had never been to New York, so I was having a lot of fun, although I had this strange feeling like everyone was watching me.

We went to Central Park and found a bench to sit on. I was completely at ease, and we just sat there for like an hour or so. I decided to have some old human fun and people watch. There was the jogger in a wooly tracksuit running with his large bulldog, the little girl feeding the pigeons while her mother in a business suit talked on a cell phone, and a bunch of elderly people making slow laps around the park.

That's when I noticed we were being watched. I turned my head a 23-degree angle to the left and immediately saw the watcher.

Naturally, the watcher wasn't looking at us now. Long, golden brown hair hung lazily down her back, and despite the cold-for-a-human weather, she wore a turquoise short-sleeve blouse, jeans, and only a light sweater. She had pale skin, the color of milk, but a slight creamy complexion was hinted. She wore a pair of designer sunglasses, so I couldn't tell if her eyes were normal and if she had any bruises under her eyes. She was absolutely gorgeous, maybe even prettier than Rosalie.

I perked my ears to try to listen to her heartbeat but heard none. Even the pigeons' hearts were louder. Watching her on a blanket on the grass, I focused my eyes to her as she poured a crimson colored liquid into the wine glass next to her. The aroma hit me quickly and I instantly knew who or what she was. "Edward," I breathed.

Edward turned to look in my direction. He sniffed the air and let out a small gasp. "Is she…drinking blood?" he asked quietly in disbelief.

"Smells like it. What is she thinking?"

"She's wondering where her husband is. Remember love, they have an illusionist too." Edward's voice was struggling to keep control and I knew he was very tempted to run up to her and attack. I placed my hand on his and squeezed gently.

Then, I saw who she was waiting for. A boy, maybe a little older than the watcher, appeared from the trees and started walking over to her. In some ways, he looked like her exact opposite. He had short, dark chocolate brown hair and a slightly darker complexion. The boy at least had a jacket, but it was tied around his waist. He didn't have a heartbeat ether, and also wore a pair of sunglasses that easily framed his face.

The boy sat down next to the watcher, and she handed him a wineglass. He sipped it contently and murmured something into her ear. I tried to listen but all I heard was, "Sorry I was late. The subway got stuck in the tunnel." Clearly, the illusionist didn't want us to notice them.

I felt Edward stiffen next to me and looked up at him. He was obviously quite peeved at the fact that they were drinking blood like that in public. "They're endangering all of the other vampires who inhabit this city," he said, crossly.

"But, if someone were to go near, Claudiena can just as easily make it seem like…red wine or fruit juice."

"Yes, but what about clothing? We put on these thick sweaters to look human and they wear thin short sleeves. I don't see why the Volturi hasn't taken them out yet." Edward paused. "Then again, Carlisle said Liberty were nearly as powerful as them. I would understand their slight hesitation…"

As he spoke quietly, I continued to watch the other vampires. The words they were supposedly saying did not match the way their mouths moved. I had never been a good lip reader so I just listened to the covered-up conversation. Then I felt a slight nudge on the back of my head.

"Make one move and you'll be transported."

I froze and felt Edward freeze too.

"Get up. Jennifer wants to speak to you," the new voice added.

We rose to our feet and I turned my head slightly to see our attackers. Two people stood behind the bench. The girl attacker was pretty, with glossy black hair and high cheekbones. The boy was equally pretty, with white blonde hair slicked back. They were both pale skinned and they were actually not wearing sunglasses, so you could see the topaz color of their irises.

I turned back to the people on the blanket and the watcher turned to smile at me. She extended her finger towards us and motioned for us to join them. I didn't move. Neither did Edward.

"What are you waiting for?" the girl attacker demanded. "Move!"


	4. Chapter 4

Edward

As we approached the blanket, the sweet yet horrible smell of blood grew stronger and stronger. I could easily resist, but Bella looked slightly strained. Her facial expression was lifeless and she looked like, if she were still human, she would barf all over the hard concrete and grass of the park and then charge at the two on the blanket and lap up all the blood.

"Hello Edward and Bella Cullen. It's about time we spoke." The watcher, which I concluded was Jennifer, smiled at us as if we were long lost friends. Jennifer motioned for us to sit on the gingham-designed blanket. Sitting cautiously down, I noticed that a large cooler sat next to Jennifer's mate, Jesse. It was red, which I guessed served the purpose of causality and in case the blood spilled.

Jennifer noticed my preoccupation. "Can I offer you a sip, Edward?" she asked, extending a wine glass in my direction.

"No, thank you," I replied, as politely as I could manage.

Jennifer took a deep inhale of her blood before setting the now empty glass on the blanket. "You're probably wondering why I've been following you," she began calmly.

"Actually, we just discovered that fact," Bella replied coldly. She inhaled another breath quickly and resumed her silence.

"The reason I've been following you was to ensure you did not bring the immortal child into our home," Jennifer continued, "Of course, this is the first time in all of our years that we had to deal with such a catastrophe. Immortal children are one thing to deal with, but when a clan stands in the way, the amount of bodies we kill can get a little big."

I growled softly, growing angrier by every passing moment. "Our daughter is not an immortal child."

"Yes, Carlisle said something similar to that. I still refuse to believe it. How can a vampire reproduce? Do enlighten me, Edward."

"Bella was originally human when she conceived. The child grew in her and nearly killed her, had I not inserted venom into her heart to rescue her. Thus, she became a vampire like the rest of us."

"Do you really expect us to believe such…stupidity?" the other female, Claudiena, demanded.

"Now, now, Claudiena. I feel your illusion wavering. Please keep your control…" Jennifer replied quietly, extending her hand until it was a hair's width apart from Claudiena's arm.

Claudiena flinched but closed her eyes. I leaned closer to Bella and watched her equally concentrate in order to raise her shield. Claudiena cupped her hands together and slowly, a sphere grew from her hands. The sphere reflected the sun, causing brilliant crystals to bounce everywhere. Once the sphere was bigger than her hands could manage, Claudiena released it and let it grow bigger and bigger until it shaped itself around us. The sphere than disappeared.

Tomas, the male next to Claudiena, beamed with pride and Jennifer nodded in approval before turning back to us. "I, too, agree with Claudiena. In order to believe this story, we wish to see the child for ourselves. Only then, can we come to a conclusion."

"Of course," I replied.

At the same time, Bella had spoken and said, "Absolutely not!" Bella realized I had agreed and turned to me, her eyes narrowing yet questioning my decision.

"It appears that you two are not on the same page. We will meet with you tomorrow then." Jennifer said smugly. Bella and I rose from the blanket, as did Jennifer and Jesse.

"When will we speak?" Bella asked.

"Rest assured, Bella. We'll come to you," Jesse replied, packing the wine glasses back into the cooler. His voice was quiet and at ease, unlike the venom of Jennifer's words or the forcefulness of Claudiena's.

Jennifer picked up the blanket and folded it quickly with ease. "Until then," she said, leading her group to the Central Park exit.

I could feel Bella's anger begin to bubble up and waited for it to explode. She held it in during the taxi ride, in the elevator, and down the hall. But as soon as we entered the suite and had closed the doors, Bella unleashed her fire.

"Edward, what the hell are you thinking?!" she asked in a sharp hiss, one that probably no human could hear.

"I'm only doing what's best for our child, love," I replied soothingly. Bella, as a human, was quite fast to relax and apologize. I wondered if that was the same for vampire life.

"Don't you dare 'love' me! Are you insane? Were you not listening to Carlisle?"

"Indeed I was. As I recall, he told us _not_ to go to war with them and to try and persuade them that we should settle this without violence."

"Huh, how ironic because that's precisely what you were doing!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, love…I mean Bella. Wasn't it after the other covens, including the Volturi, met Nessie that they agreed to be at peace with us?" My patience was wavering a bit but I managed to keep my tone respectful and gentle.

"But Liberty is nothing like the Volturi! The Volturi didn't have an illusionist that can trick the other powers of vampires! For all we know, Edward, they can be planning to attack Renesmee and then kill the rest of us. They could be planning to put us all in a coma and then trick us into becoming a Liberty supporter. I'm not going to put our daughter or the family in serious risk!"

"But, Bella…"

"Sorry, Edward." Bella's anger was subsiding. Her face was less tense and her slight defensive crouch had straightened. "My mind is made up. There's no changing it."

Edward's phone…

Carlisle-

L following us. Meet w/ us in CP. Wants to see R.

B says no but I don't see the big deal.

What 2 do?

Carlisle's phone…

Edward-

Y was L following you? Don't think we can discuss

strategy if we can't talk openly. Meet me in

location discussed.

Edward's phone…

Carlisle-

C u there.

"Where did you go?" Bella asked as I walked back into the suite.

"Radio Shack," I replied, pulling the new laptop I had bought out of the cardboard box. It was the first one I saw when I entered the store and the sales clerk promised with a hearty grin that it had the best Wi-Fi internet connection of the group. But then again, I hadn't completely trusted her because she had been distracted with trying to give me her phone number. She finally got it in my hands by saying, "If you need anymore help with laptops, call me."

The clerk had been so pleased with herself that she hadn't notice me throw it out in the little trash bin near the door.

"What for?" Bella asked, sitting down next to me on the bed.

"You'll see." I booted up the computer and waited for it to load. It was like watching a snail move, or watching dead grass grow. I sighed impatiently and Bella turned on the television to flip through it. Nothing good was on; nothing that caught my eye.

When it did load, I went online and typed in the website that I had memorized. Bella blinked as the screen loaded. "Chat rooms?" she asked.

"Alice's and Rosalie's idea. Carlisle thought it would be appropriate if we had an area where we could talk more openly about topics without the hassle of texting or emailing." I clicked on the "Try It For Free!" button on the side.

**Guest412902 has entered Chat 3891038.**

**Careyful: **So I told him I had enough of his BS. So I like totally kicked

his butt.

**Helpful Helen223:** Yeah, you go girlie!

**Guest412902: **Hello?

**DrCC999: **E, if you're out there, answer.

**ElizabethSweetie: **Yes?

**Guest412902: **Over here, C.

**DrCC999 has sent Guest 412902 an email.**

"DrCC999?"

"Carlisle. The rest of the family is waiting for us in a private chat room." I opened the email from Carlisle and found the screen name and password. "What the heck…?" I mumbled, reading the screen name. Bella blinked at the screen and pursed her lips together, as if she was angry but laughing.

"I'm going to kill Alice for this…" I said, half joking.

**BEDward429 has entered Private Chat 60398549**

**FuTuReReAdEr: **Glad you could join us, Bella & Edward.

**BEDward429: **What the heck were you thinking when you typed the

screen name, Alice?! Edward

**FuTuReReAdEr: **Hey, don't look at me. Emmett made the names.

**BigAsABear: **But you approved of it, Alice.

**CullenMother: **Can we all please concentrate? We have a serious issue to

talk about.

**DrCC999: **I agree w/ Esme. Let's try to focus here.

**BEDward429: **Liberty wants to come to Forks and meet Renesmee. Bella

thinks we should say no, but that might cause them to want

to go to war w/ us. Edward

**BEDward429: **Edward wants us to say yes, but they might be planning to ambush us when we are unarmed. Bella

**PrettyAsARose:** Both seem like uneasy situations.

**FuTuReReAdEr: **I agree w/ Rose. Both seem like nearly suicides. One

way, we go to war. The other, we have the possibility

of being attacked.

**Gaspers Jaspers: **We have the wolves as some advantage though.

**CullenMother: **Yes, but that would mean causing another fight to break

out.

**PrettyAsARose:** War one way or war another.

**DrCC999: **But every group has it's weakness.

**BEDward429: **Even a group that's nearly as strong as the Volturi?

Bella

**DrCC999: **While you were gone, I created a back-up plan.

**DrCC999: **You know, in case we did have to battle them.

**BEDward429: **Great. Bella What is it? Edward

**DrCC999: **I was talking on the phone with some of our friends from

the Volturi battle and I discovered that Zafrina once saw them

in action. Moreover, she saw their weakness.

**BigAsABear: **Excellent

**PrettyAsARose: **What is it?

**DrCC999: **When you normally watch vampires in actions, it's up to the

males to protect the females. Zafrina noticed that when

battling with another group, Jesse & Tomas would still be

be fierce, but not the center of attention.

**Gaspers Jaspers: **So, they hide behind Jennifer & Claudiena?

**DrCC999: **Exactly. My guess is that Jennifer & Claudiena are stronger

than their mates. Jesse's gift is rather useless if you're not

dead & Tomas's gift is controlled by his hands. Bind his

hands and he has no power.

**BEDward429: **So if we get the boys, we get the girls? Bella

**BigAsABear: **Sweet…

**DrCC999: **Hopefully, Bella's shield should protect you all. When are you

meeting with them again?

**BEDward429: **Sometime tomorrow. They didn't quite tell us. Edward

**DrCC999: **Put the plan into action then.

**CullenMother: **Be safe, Edward & Bella.

**BEDward429 has left Private Chat 60398549.**

I signed out of the chat room and closed the laptop. Bella had gotten up from the bed and was sitting quietly on the balcony. "Edward?"

"Yes, love?" I mentally winced, for I didn't know if the whole "love" thing was over yet.

Bella showed no recognition of the previous argument. In fact, I had the strangest feeling that I was forgiven and that new worries were in the way. "Do you really think it will work? Even if we do manage to attack the Liberty males, who's to say that the females might lash out at us? Who's to say they won't protect them with their lives?" she asked softly.

"Who's to say it isn't?" I replied, sitting down on the chair next to her.

Bella sighed loudly and stretched up towards the moon. "I guess I need to take my mind off it…" As the words left her lips, she suddenly grinned widely.

"We have the whole night," I mumbled softly, getting in the mood.

Bella turned to me and practically leaped off the chair towards me. I caught her easily and, still kissing her, carried her into the suite. I threw her on the bed, which gave a loud groan in complaint. I crouched again, getting ready to jump.

"WAIT!"

I paused. "What is it?"

"I actually like this shirt. Give me a moment." A blur of colors and the sound of the drawers opening and closing sounded, and then Bella appeared on the bed, wearing one of Alice's choices of undergarments.

I purred under my breath and pounced.


	5. Chapter 5

Bella

RING!

The sun was rising in the east and all I could hear was that irritable noise.

RING-A-RING!

"Get the phone, Edward," I insisted as I removed my lips from his.

"You get it," he growled playfully back.

"Liberty would prefer to speak with a vampire of more experience."

One second, Edward was grinning mischievously at me. The next, I was holding the air where he had been and heard the shower turning on. "I'm in the shower, love. You don't expect me to get the phone when I'm all wet, do you?"

"You're cruel," I mumbled under my breath, as Edward chuckled from the shower. I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Mrs. Cullen! This is the Algonquin desk manager."

I breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Oh, good morning," I said, yawning as humans would do.

"Your neighbors next door called the desk to complain about banging coming from your room. We're just calling to make sure everything is okay."

_Banging? _"My husband and I got home late yesterday, ma'am. Perhaps it was the rats…?"

"Rats?" Doubt filled the manager's voice.

"Rats can come back," I replied. "And, just yesterday, my husband found a hole in his bag of…onion rings."

"Oh my…Well, I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Mrs. Cullen. Have a nice day…" The desk manager hung up the phone with a rather loud clank.

I heard Edward chuckle and turned to see him wearing a towel around his waist and towel drying his hair. "You do know that the only reason why they're not forcing us out is because we have money that human's desire… Besides, banging? Judging by the way we were at it, I'm surprised the building is still standing…"

"That's something Emmett would say," I replied, getting up to shower. As I passed by him, I poked him lightly in the arm. "Are you going to join me?"

"I'll have to consider it," he teased, chasing me into the tiny stall.

By the time we hopped out of the shower, our skin was like prunes. It was somewhat funny watching Edward covered in wrinkles. "So, what's on today's agenda?" I asked, drying myself with a hotel towel.

Edward thought for a moment. "I was thinking we could go to Ellis Island and then to the Bronx Zoo. But, Liberty said they would contact us in time…so I guess we have to be close to the hotel."

I sighed and opened one of the drawers in my dresser. I finally decided on a fringed white blouse and jeans, with a buckled brown belt to show off the waist. I also had to consider the weather outside and took out a green jean jacket. Edward was already waiting by the door. "Even as a vampire, you take so long to choose what to wear," he teased.

"Hey, I'm not the one who hid in the shower when the phone rang," I replied, closing the door behind us.

We stayed extremely close to the hotel. Bored out of our wits, we wandered in the hotel, playing in the game room and watching television in the lounge. When the hotel got boring, Edward suggested we stay in the block radius. We went window-shopping for hours and entertained ourselves by passing the Radio Shack, where the sale clerk saw us and got this weird look on her face. We finally decided to see a new movie at the theater nearby.

It was ten pm when the movie ended. We walked back to the hotel, chatting about the movie. Okay, mostly I chatted about the movie. Edward seemed to know every green screen change, every special effect, and every computer detail. He just nodded along with me and talked only about the plot of the story.

As we passed by the front desk, Edward leaned over to the desk manager. "Is there any messages for us?" he asked in an irresistible voice.

The manager looked at the paper in front of her, to look and to probably hide her blush. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Cullen. Would you like me to notify you when there is one?"

"Yes, thank you," he replied, walking back to my side.

The elevator ride was strangely quick. Usually, people would be hopping on and off it, going where they needed to go. The hallway was equally quiet, and as I opened the door with the door key, I wondered what was going on. The little light signaled the door was unlocked and I turned the doorknob. As we entered, I immediately noticed that there was no light in the room and that the curtains were drawn. _Wait a second…doesn't Housekeeping usually turn on the lights?_ "Edward…" I started to say.

BANG!

In an instant, I was tackled onto the floor. I knew this wasn't Edward, because he had never attacked me in such a way that I would land on the floor with a loud CLUNCK. I managed to grab the light switch on my way down and instantly, the room was filled with bright light. Sitting calmly in one of the stuffed armchairs in the sitting area was Jennifer. I was guessing the person holding my head to the floor was Jesse; I saw the dark hair growing on his arms.

"Get up," Jesse hissed quietly. The nicer, calmer voice I had heard yesterday had disappeared, and was replaced by a hissing snake about to kill its prey. I pulled myself up, with Jesse still twisting his hands around my wrists. Once off the floor, I looked in Edward's direction and saw both Claudiena and Tomas struggling to hold him back. His eyes were confused and somewhat wild.

"What is the meaning of this?" Edward demanded as he continued to fight Claudiena and Tomas.

"Relax yourself, Edward, or I will have Tomas freeze you," Jennifer replied coldly.

Edward stopped struggling but by the look on his face, it was obvious that he was looking for an opportunity to shake them off and run.

"We came here at noon, looking for you," Jennifer began, "While we were waiting, we saw your laptop on the floor. Tomas knows a thing or two about computers, so he hacked into your laptop for enjoyment. And then he saw your chat logs."

Edward froze. Realization shot through me like a bullet. "We can explain," Edward started to say.

"There's nothing to say," Jesse replied quietly, "It's quite obvious that you were going to abduct Tomas and myself in order to secure that our mates do your immortal child no harm.

"She is not an immortal child!" I cried, sounding like a broken record.

"Please, Bella, don't even try and defend it," Claudiena replied, silencing me.

"Bella, it has become quite clear that your coven has some issues with the Volturi. I myself have some issues with them. That is no way to deal with the problem; bringing a dangerous being into the world…What if that child was to escape you? The whole vampire nation would be threatened!"

"Us, threaten the vampire nation?" Edward laughed blackly. "We are not the ones who have picnics of blood in parks and break into private property without permission."

Tomas waved his hands to silence him. As fast as I could, I whipped out my shield and stretched it towards Edward. But, just as the shield came a yard away from Edward, Claudiena held out her hand. A brilliant crystal sphere shot out of her hand and stretched into a crystal wall. My shield banged into it and, with a loud snap, it bounced back to me. My body stung from the recoil and I looked at Edward. His body was utterly still, with only his eyes moving. They were frantic and wondering what was going on.

"While we were reading the logs, we discovered that you, Bella, have a wonderful gift of shielding. Unfortunately, for you, you forgot that Claudiena can play with your powers," Jennifer said, rising from her chair.

It took me a moment to realize what she was doing. I started sending my shields faster than the speed of sound. But Claudiena's blocks traveled at the speed of light. Repeatedly, I sent my shields to protect Edward, but repeatedly, Claudiena blocked. Every shield recoil stung my skin and body but I ignored the pain and kept trying.

With the last of my strength, I pushed the biggest shield I could manage out of me. Claudiena sensed it and released Edward to push her hands together. A wall twice as big as my shield appeared and the recoil hit me hard. I flew back and banged against the wall. Jesse, who had been holding my wrists, had sensed the battle and released me at the last minute. He had not been hurt.

Picking myself off the dirty carpet, I glanced up to Edward. His eyes pierced mine and he held it there for a moment. A rush of strength pulled through me, and before Jesse could stop me, I ran towards Edward and I pressed my lips to his. He would have kissed back if he hadn't been frozen. It held for probably a second before Jesse managed to pull me away.

Then I saw it.

Jennifer stood next to Edward and leaned towards him. Then with delicate motions, ran her long pale fingers along his cheek. Tomas moved his fingers slightly and Edward fell from the frozen state but then he was grimacing in pain. He looked up to me again, whispered Bella, and then his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

I screamed. And for the first time ever, I wished that I could cry.


	6. Chapter 6

Edward

For the first time in over a hundred years, I woke up. I opened my eyes and all I saw above me was white. I jumped up from the bed and landed in a crouch. I looked above me and saw the white sky above me. I looked to my left and right, and all I saw was the white, white and more white. I looked at the bed I had been "sleeping" on and saw the white wooden bed and sheets. I looked down at my clothing and saw that I had changed into a slightly off-white shirt, a white sports jacket, and white pants.

I was in a world of white.

"Glad to see you up, Edward," a soft melodic voice murmured. I turned and saw my captor, Jesse. Jesse looked different from his appearance before. His hair was a tone darker, his skin more touched with cream. He even looked taller, which made me wonder how long I had been knocked out. Jesse also wore a white outfit, but his clothing had this glowing light coming from it.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"A world which you cannot escape. An entire universe separated from Earth. A new home with only one way to escape. Me."

_Jesse can raise the dead, or when a vampire is in a coma, he can instantly revive them._ Carlisle's words rang through my head. I started running towards Jesse. I ran faster than I normally did, but still didn't move from my square of space. When I finally realized that I wasn't going anywhere, I slowed to a walk and eventually stopped all together.

"This is my world, Edward. I control what happens in here, when it happens. Don't try any funny business. Or you'll regret it." Jesse chuckled darkly. "But I will provide you with some entertainment." Jesse snapped his fingers and suddenly, the world of white disappeared and I was standing back in the hotel room. I stood next to Bella, who was sitting on the bed, playing with a loose string on the blanket.

"Bella!" I gasped as I sat down next to her. Bella showed no reaction to me, and didn't even react to hearing my voice. "Bella? Love?" Bella continued to pick at the blanket. "Why can't my wife hear me?" I asked Jesse.

"We are mere spirits, Edward. No one can hear us or see us except for other spirits. Besides, she is still mourning the loss of her mate," Jesse replied, nodding to my lifeless body. Someone, probably Bella, had moved my body off the floor and had placed it on the bed next to Bella.

I got up from the bed and walked to the sitting room. Jennifer was sitting on the stuffed armchair that she had been sitting on before she had "killed" me, and Claudiena and Tomas sat on the large couch. The red cooler sat next to the table in the center and all of the vampires sipped blood from their own wine glass. Even though I was a spirit, I could still smell the horribleness and looked slightly away.

The coven was deep in conversation. "What are we doing with the female? It is obvious that she is dramatized by Jennifer's gift. I wouldn't be surprised if she picks the entire blanket by sunrise," Claudiena said, pouring fresh blood into her glass.

"Perhaps we could use that to our advantage, dear one," Tomas said quietly. Tomas, who I had never spoken before, had a voice that was soothing and calm; the voice of a gentle therapist. His voice sounded like it belonged to Esme or some other mother.

"Tomas is correct. We could perhaps do this…" As Jennifer began to speak of her plan, the entire room became blurry. I blinked my eyes to clear my vision but the world began to waver. I sank to my knees and closed my eyes shut. I felt something hit my head and I fell to my back.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on the white bed in the white world. It occurred to me that I had not heard Jennifer's plan. "Jesse!" I called. "Why have you taken me out?

Jesse appeared at the foot of the bed. "It was for your own good, Edward. Remember, I control this world. I can choose to let you hear something or I can choose to knock you out so you don't hear anything."

"But she is my wife! I have the right to know what is going on with my fam…"

"I'm sorry, Edward. But I have limitations." Jesse slowly began to disappear. "Oh yes…By the way…" Jesse turned back to me. "I forgot that you might get hungry." He snapped his fingers again and a red cooler appeared by my feet.

I sniffed and covered my mouth in disgust. "You're kidding, right?"

Jesse frowned. "Do I look like it, Edward?"

"You really don't expect me to drink human blood, even though I spent nearly half my life trying to stick to animal blood?"

"Who said it was human blood?" Jesse chuckled. "I had Tomas kill some mountain lion for you. I hear it's your favorite back home." Chuckling again, Jesse disappeared.

I stared in horror at the cooler by my feet. I could feel my hunger rage in me and I tried to block it out. I rocked back and forth, ignoring the aching in my stomach and in my entire body. Jesse was probably making me hungrier by using some sort of his world illusion. I felt myself give in. I opened the cooler and saw that there was a wine glass lying along the top of bag. I held up the bag. It was labeled "EDWARD" in large black letters.

Although I wanted to tear into the bag with my teeth and suck out all of the blood, I forced myself to carefully remove the tab on the top and pour it carefully into the glass. Once it filled, I held it to my nose and inhaled it again. The smell overtook my sinuses and blocked out all other smells. I held it to my mouth and gently tipped my tongue in, waiting for my own reaction. It tasted like…mountain lion. No human.

I sighed in relief and started drinking. I finished the glass quickly and began to polish off the rest of the bag. Once that bag was gone, another appeared under it. I stopped thinking and just started to tear into the tabs of the bag, inhaling most of the blood in one gulp. I drank and drank until I was full.

As I pushed the never-empty cooler under my bed for later purposes, I looked down at my bloodied hands. I had spilled a quarter of a bag on the floor and had to force myself not to bend down and lick it up. Miraculously, the blood was fading and my hands were returning to its usual paleness.

Although I was full and somewhat content, I realized that I was missing my other half.

Bella.

"BELLA!" I yelled aloud.

Into the nothingness.


	7. Chapter 7

Bella

"Bella, get up."

I looked up and saw Claudiena. "Excuse me?"

"Get up. Jennifer wants you in the sitting room." When I didn't move, she held her hand in front of her. "That was an order. You do it now or you'll end up in the middle of a tracker attack." Even though I had my shield to protect me, I remembered Claudiena's counter shield and slowly slid off the bed.

Holding her hand to my back, Claudiena pushed me into the sitting room and onto a chair. Claudiena sat back on the couch next to Tomas. A minute passed and Jesse suddenly appeared on the arm of Jennifer's chair. He bended down and kissed her on her forehead. I bit my lip.

"How is he?" I mumbled.

"Going a little crazy and hallucinating here and there, but altogether fine," Jesse replied cheerfully.

"Bella," Jennifer said loudly, causing me to look at her, "It has come to our attention that we still need to take down that immortal child. Since you are the only…living representative, you will take us to the child and we will kill them in person."

I jerked from my seat. "Are you insane? Why would I lead you to my daughter so you can kill her?"

Jesse chuckled from the arm of the chair. "You don't get it, Bella? As we speak, your mate weakens in his state of mind. The longer he stays, the weaker he grows. You will also notice his skin tone will begin to fade and in time, so will his hair, his eyes…and in time, memory will fade in him and he will forget you. Eternal suffering, Bella? You _will _help us and perhaps, I will revive your husband in exchange…"

"You're blackmailing me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Not necessarily. Just think of it as a way to test your relationship with your husband. Your coven and the immortal child for your husband's life."

I found myself walking up to the front desk of the hotel with Edward next to me. Claudiena, who sat in the lobby reading a magazine, was controlling the illusion to perfection. Just looking at it made me want to cry. The real Edward had been taken out to the waiting limo by Tomas and Jesse only moments before; covered by Claudiena's illusions, which made it appear like Edward was a large suitcase.

Illusion Edward cleared his throat and the desk manager looked up. Her heartbeat increased immediately. "Good morning, Mr. Cullen…Mrs. Cullen," she said, as if reminding herself that Mr. Cullen was taken.

"Good afternoon," I replied. Illusion Edward nodded in return. Claudiena could, unfortunately, not make her illusion speak so I would have to do all the talking.

"My husband has recently gotten sick from something he ate here in the city, so I'm taking him home. Would it be a hassle if we left today instead of tomorrow?" I made my voice quiet and as nice as I could manage. Jennifer had dictated the words to me before I had left the hotel room.

"It's no problem at all, Mrs. Cullen," the desk manager said with another fake smile. She turned and began to type on the computer keyboard behind her, buttons clanking away somewhat cheerfully.

Then it happened. Illusion Edward's image disappeared then reappeared. The disappearance happened so fast I thought I might have blinked. Then illusion Edward's image began to waver, like a television that had lost its signal. Illusion Edward began to flash wildly, his image flashing colors wildly.

Panic began to come over me. I looked around the room and stepped slightly over Illusion Edward so my body covered him. I twisted my head a four-degree angle to see Jennifer and Claudiena across the room. "What do you mean you left the cooler upstairs?!" Jennifer hissed.

Illusion Edward flared with emotion as Claudiena replied hotly, "I'm not in charge of it. It's Tomas's job today."

"Yes, but Tomas was bringing Edward down to the car, you imbecile!" Jennifer paused for breath and caught my eye. She raised a threatening eyebrow and I moved over to show the illusion. Illusion Edward was shrinking, and rapidly too. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed angrily at Claudiena, jerking her head towards my direction.

Claudiena widened her eyes in panic and began to extend her hands in front of her. The energy from the illusion sucked back to her with a slight breeze and quickly, Claudiena reopened her hands and another Edward appeared, in the exact position that the other had been. A small spark of leftover energy lit under his foot and I stamped it gingerly to get it out. I stepped to my left, maintaining my original position.

The desk manager turned, oblivious to the fact of the dilemma that had just occurred. "There you go. Now if Mr. Cullen could fill up this form…" She pointed to the bottom of a printed form. Commanded by Claudiena, illusion Edward picked up the pen and proceeded to scribble answers onto the form.

"Did you find your room satisfactory, Mr. Cullen?"

Illusion Edward looked up towards me briefly, nodded, then returned to his work. The desk manager blinked at his somewhat rudeness and it occurred to me that she might be insulted because he hadn't responded in the way she had hoped for.

I felt Jennifer's glare at the back of my head, ordering me to respond for my suddenly mute husband. "I apologize, ma'am, but my husband lost his voice coughing all night. I'm hoping to get him home before it worsens…"

"Of course," the manager replied, sounding doubtful.

Illusion Edward signed the form and handed it wordlessly to me. I signed my name, Bella Cullen, in the little signature box and handed the form back to the manager. She took it. "Thank you. Have a nice day, Mrs. Cullen." As we started to walk away, she also called out, "Feel better, Mr. Cullen!" in one last desperate attempt to get him to respond.

I walked with the illusion to the apparently stolen limo and the waiting chauffer, Tomas with a cap pulled over his eyes, opened the door for us. I stifled a sob when I saw the real Edward lying on one bench of seats. I climbed into the car and slipped under Edward's head, and began to play with his hair. Just as Jesse said, his hair was somewhat lighter. Or was that my imagination?

We drove for a couple blocks and stopped at a traffic light. In a heartbeat, the car door swung open and Jennifer appeared on the seat across from me. Claudiena climbed in after her, carrying the nearly forgotten cooler, and slammed the door shut. Noticing that the illusion sitting in the only available seat, Claudiena waved her fist and illusion Edward disappeared.

Just watching Claudiena reminded me of what I had witnessed in the lobby. Just by watching Claudiena's emotions effect the illusion, I suddenly realized that I had found a hidden weakness in the Liberty offense. And maybe, just maybe, I could use that to my advantage.

It was only after we spent twenty minutes in the car that I noticed that Jesse was missing. "Where is Jesse?" I asked Claudiena.

Claudiena, who had been forming random illusions with her hands, looked up from her work. "Jesse is with Edward right now," she replied bluntly.

"But I saw him take Edward to the car…"

"Jesse can visit Edward whenever he wants. Well, the world where he keeps everybody after Jennifer kills them. But hey, it's a free country. After all, it's part of his gift, Bella."

"Part of his gift? Isn't that his _entire_ gift?"

Claudiena's eyes widened in sudden realization. But before she could explain herself, I heard a slight rap on the window and I jumped. I turned to look out the tinted window and saw a tubby man standing in a little tollbooth. Tomas rolled down the front window. "Good morning, sir."

The man grunted rudely in response. He looked briefly through the little window that separated Tomas from us. He examined each person sitting in the seats. Claudiena was acting as a spoiled teen and sat chomping loudly on gum and reading a tabloid. Jennifer was all business and motherly, looking at the man with slight interest. I probably looked the most interesting, with Edward "sleeping" on my lap. The man shrugged to himself and grunted again to Tomas.

Tomas could probably hear him but acted as many humans would. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't quite hear you. Could you repeat that?"

"I said," the tubby man said louder, "How long will your damn car be parked here?"

"Hmm…I'm thinking maybe a year or two."

"A year?!" The man snorted and spat nastily on the floor.

Tomas smiled charmingly to the guard. Very quietly, he lifted his hand. The man stopped laughing and a horrible noise sounded from his throat. The man began to wheeze uncontrollably and it took me a moment to realize that Tomas was slowly stopping his heart. Tomas's hand was slowly closing into a fist and the tighter his fist got, the harder the man began to wheeze. "My damn car will be here forever," Tomas whispered softly before closing his fist all the way. The man fell flat to the ground with a soft crunch. Claudiena raised her hand and the man's body disappeared

Tomas parked the car and quickly got out to open the door. As I got out, I noticed the large JFK sign across the street. I turned and saw Jesse and Tomas lowering him onto a luggage cart. Just watching them made me realize something. "How is Edward going to travel?"

Jesse smirked. "Baggage claim anyone?"


	8. Chapter 8

Edward

I had not even remembered falling asleep after feeding, so it was genuine shock that came over me when I found my eyes closed and my head on a white silk pillow. My longing for Bella was eating away at my control over my appetite, so I took a few sips from the cooler under the bed. After I finished, I felt slightly ashamed at myself. Ordinarily, I would only feed if necessary. Perhaps the days were longer here in this strange world of white.

I sat on the bed and tried to remember the events of before I had drifted into my dreamless sleep. I remembered running north and south to the limits of the white world, and then running east to west. I remembered gnawing a piece of the bed off and making it into a crude shovel. I remembered stabbing it into the white earth repeatedly until…

"Ah," I said aloud.

Jesse had appeared out of nowhere and screamed at me, "COULD YOU CUT IT OUT WITH THE NOISE?!" I now remembered asking him how he could hear me. Jesse had frozen and narrowed his eyes. He had waved his hands in front of him and I began to feel drowsy.

_Now why would he do that for?_ I inquired to myself. I still didn't know how he could hear me. Perhaps he could hear everybody…

"Actually, I can." Jesse appeared at the foot of my bed. "I can also hear your thoughts in up to fifty different languages." When I didn't respond, he shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now, get up. I have a treat for you."

I rose to my feet and the world of white began to change colors. I blinked and saw that the world had turned to that of a parking lot. Bella was standing by the door of a limo with her mouth agape. Claudiena was holding my lifeless body with Tomas on the other end. Jennifer looked annoyed as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Listen, when I agreed to doing this, I didn't agree that Edward would travel in the baggage compartment of a plane!" Bella exclaimed angrily.

"Agree to what?" I asked Jesse.

"Oh, your wife agreed to the assassination of your coven."

"Excuse me?!"

"Your wife agreed to bring us to your…family because she had no other reason to live after you died," Jesse replied.

"Bella would never do that!" I replied dripping my voice with venom. "Bella would never betray the family that gave birth to her, the family who loved her, the family who is raising her daughter!"

Before Jesse could respond, Jennifer answered to Bella. "Bella, you have no say in this. Besides, Claudiena will cover Edward with an illusion so that he will fly quite comfortably to Forks."

"If she has her illusions, she can make it seem like Edward can walk to the plane. Once we do that, he can sit and 'sleep' through the whole flight!" I felt a ripple of proud run through my body as I watched her flare. She was fighting for me. There was no way that Jesse could be telling the truth about Bella. Bella inhaled a deep breath and relaxed herself. "Listen, Jennifer, all I'm asking is that I get one thing in return for the big thing I offer." _Big…thing?_

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. She sighed regretfully. "Very well then, Bella. You did agree to bring us to your coven." _No, it can't be…!_

"Yes," Bella mumbled, before brushing the topic aside. "So, will Edward be riding with us?" Her eyes flickered towards my body before turning away.

Claudiena dropped my body's feet and waved her hands over my body. My body jerked up and got to its feet. My eyes opened, revealing the white lifelessness of my eyes. Frowning, Claudiena reached into Tomas's coat pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.

"Don't you see, Edward?" Jesse crooned softly. "Did you not see how Bella agreed with giving up her family? Did you not see how she brushed the topic away because she knows what **pain** it will cost you? She excused the topic because she has no reason to live, Edward. She does not care for you…Her life ceases to exist so she is offering herself up…Your body is merely a souvenir to her. She'll only be taking it with her to show your family what will become of them once we finish them off…"

I lunged at his throat but Jesse opened his hands, as if offering me a hug. I flew through the air and landed on the hood of a car. I felt my weight push into the car and the alarm sounded. The coven and Bella looked up. Jesse was mad now, hissing curses under his breath. "You see what you made me do, Edward?! I have over-used my power and now Bella can…" Jesse flew through the air to land on the car next to me. "I have had enough of this! Never again will you see your mate's face!"

"NO!" I roared as I flew again for his throat.

Jesse blocked again and I fell to the pavement. As I looked up, the world began to spin. The colors began fade and Jesse stood over me. "You imbecile!" I screeched.

"Never…again…ever…Edward…" Jesse murmured. His shirt was turning a rabid shade of black, his pants darkening with his anger. I looked down at my own clothing. A large slime-like creature was crawling up my fallen body, turning my clothing to the rabid black on Jesse's. "Darkness will forever cover you," Jesse mumbled as he closed his hands into fists. The creature grew bigger and began to cover me.

I proceeded to rip it off with my hands, but every time I ripped a piece off, a piece twice the size grew back and continued its journey. The creature was up my neck, squeezing it slightly as it moved over my mouth. I couldn't speak now. I ripped with the new talons of my hands, but it continued its way up. My nose, and slowly seeping over my eyes. I could not see.

I ripped one last piece of my mouth.

"BELLA!"

The slime closed.

Darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Bella

It became clear to me as soon as we entered the airport that Jennifer and her clan were clearly the powerful people. The way they walked in, with the wind slightly blowing their hair…You would have thought they were on some sort of television show. Jesse had reappeared once we entered the airport and his arm had a long cut running down it that he tried to hide from me. But I had heard and seen what had happened.

When I had tried to brush away the blackmail that Jennifer had pushed back on to me, I had heard a whoosh of air and suddenly the car in the next row had a large dent in it. The truck next to it smashed to, the windshield wiper flinging off in the process. I had heard ripping noises and then that single word and voice.

Edward had heard the entire conversation.

I now understood the purpose behind Jennifer's urge to suddenly remind me of the blackmail deal. Edward would now be suffering because he thought that I had signed the deal to give up the Cullens. And with the werewolves nearby, I might have well as given them a two-for-one deal of his soul.

Jennifer practically floated to the ticket office. The attendant behind the desk instantly forced a fake smile. Under that smile was fear. "Good morning, Mrs. Pritel! Going on another trip with the family?!" Every sentence the poor human said had a built in exclamation point.

_Family?_ I turned my head to a slight four-degree angle. True, Claudiena and Tomas looked somewhat in their teen years…But what about Edward and me? Jennifer might have been thinking this too, for she smiled at the attendant. "My nephew and niece-in-law are coming with us," she explained.

The attendant nodded in a jerky motion. "Of course. Would you like me to get the jet ready for you?"

_Jet?_ I turned to Claudiena. She blew a large bubble from her mouth full of gum. "When you're a hired assassin, you get the private stuff," Claudiena mumbled smugly.

The jet was like a house in the air. Once we entered, I saw a large leather couch, a fifty-six inch flat screen, an array of electronics, a mini library, and a large curtain hiding a king-sized bed occupying most of the jet's space. Claudiena pulled back the curtain and moved her hands so Edward's body flopped down onto it and laid still. We all were seated and the jet lifted off. For the first five minutes of the flight, I drifted slightly, playing with Edward's hair, which had been the same shade of brown for two hours.

Suddenly, a loud sound noised from Edward's pocket. Tomas reached into his pocket and pulled out Edward's cellphone. The cellphone continued to sound, the caller ID showing that Carlisle was calling. "Answer it," Jennifer ordered, handing the phone to me.

"Hello?" I said, struggling to keep my voice calm and perfectly normal.

"Bella? Where is Edward?"

"He's busy talking with Liberty right now," I fibbed.

I heard Carlisle sigh. "Good. When Edward didn't respond this morning, I thought the worst had happened. And with no future telling from Alice, we were getting pretty nervous over here."

"Don't worry," I replied, almost robotically, "My shield protected us. Liberty will leave us alone."

"You followed through with the plans, Bella?"

"Yes. In fact, to prove that they're our allies, Liberty is sending us home in their jet."

"Okay. Can you ask Edward to text me once he's done talking?"

"Of course. See you later."

As soon as Carlisle hung up, Jennifer took the phone from me. She clicked on the texting option and handed the phone to me. "Go on. Claudiena is making your future-predictor's vision see you as perfectly normal. Now back it up with some evidence." With those words, Jennifer turned with the others and they walked back to the living room area of the plane.

I picked the phone up from the bed and started typing.

Edward's phone…

Carlisle-

Hello.

Everything is fine here.

L is sending us home as we speak.

Please hug & kiss Nessie from B & me.

I hit the send button, hoping the HELP hidden in the text would help, and turned the phone on vibrate mode. Satisfied at the secrecy, I peeked out of the curtain.

Jesse was lying down on the couch, Jennifer resting on his chest. A ping of jealousy hit me as I stared at Edward's body. Jennifer could never kill Jesse because their powers canceled each other out. Tomas was teasing Claudiena as they played a video game on the flat-screen. Tomas grabbed Claudiena in a bear hug, causing her to drop her controller on the floor. Claudiena playfully pushed Tomas so his controller dropped as well. It was almost as if they were frozen as teenagers in love.

As I watched them play, I remembered how Claudiena's illusions could waver. I got up from the bed and walked over to Tomas and Claudiena. They both looked up, surprised. "Can I um...play?" I knew what a fool I was going to make of myself, but if I could distract Claudiena for more than a minute, Alice might get a proper vision of what was yet to come.

Claudiena blinked and opened her mouth to say something but Tomas hushed her quietly. "Of course, Bella," he replied kindly, in his therapist voice. He handed me a video game controller. I took it gingerly and held it in my hands for a moment. "Um…Bella? You're holding it upside-down," Tomas mumbled. Claudiena was hiding her laughter with her hand.

"Oh." I turned the controller over.

I tried not to have too much fun playing with them. But, honestly, it was actually quite fun. Claudiena was a bit impatient, but Tomas was a gentle teacher. If I made a slight mistake, Tomas would pause the game to try to help me understand what was going wrong. Claudiena spent that time flipping through a magazine on the table next to her.

Tomas finally suggested we try a real game, with me flying solo. I knew that this would be my only chance to distract Claudiena. If I were to fail this opportunity, my family would die in a couple of hours. So, embarrassed and unsure, I agreed.

The game began and I moved my icon quickly across the screen, jumping and slashing, towards Claudiena's icon. Claudiena had been advancing to Tomas, so she was caught off guard at my attempt. She moved her icon around and started fighting with my character.

Then I felt it.

I felt the illusion waver. As it lowered, I could feel rushes of energy slowly crawl back to Claudiena. Claudiena didn't realize this and was battling my poor icon furiously on the screen. I peeked at Tomas and saw that he too was busy battling. I didn't want it to seem obvious, so I craned my head ever so slightly to the right to see if Jennifer or Jesse had sensed it. Jesse was watching the screen, his eyes dancing with the reflection of the lights. Jennifer was utterly still, as if she wasn't quite sure if the illusion was down.

The final bits of energy entered Claudiena, who hadn't noticed and was busy killing my dying character. I let out a silent sigh of relief. The illusion was fully down. Hopefully, Alice could now get the proper reception for the future. Thirty seconds passed. Alice should have found out that we were going to ambush her. Another twenty seconds passed. Alice should have warned the rest of the Cullens by now.

Suddenly, Jennifer let out a gasp of air. "CLAUDIENA!"

Claudiena jumped in the air, her fingers slipping from her control. Her character stopped on the screen. Tomas paused the battle. "What is it, Jennifer?"

"The…shield…IT'S DOWN! PUT IT UP! PUT IT UP NOW!" Jennifer was screeching now. Jesse was struggling to relax her but she was fuming now. "PUT IT UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I RIP YOUR HEAD…" Jennifer never finished her threat. She jumped in the air to attack Claudiena.

Claudiena held her hands up in defense; brilliant sphere springing from her hands to form a large shield in front of her. Jennifer crashed into the shield, flew back, and somersaulted in the air to land in a crouch on the floor. Her eyes narrowed and she stood up from the crouch. "Do it now," she hissed between her teeth.

"I didn't know," Claudiena whispered softly, pressing her hands together. The large crystal sphere grew from her pressed hands. "I'm sorry, Jennifer," she continued to mumble, "I must have been distracted…I'm so sorry…" She sounded like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Jennifer began to pace restlessly. "What are we going to do now?" she asked aloud. "The future-teller probably saw us arriving…But the illusion was down only for two minutes, correct?" Jennifer whipped around to glare at Claudiena.

Claudiena bobbed her head up and down, as if an invisible string was controlling it. "I believe so, Jennifer. I'm pretty sure of that."

I suddenly felt Edward's phone vibrate in my pocket. The vibration was not visible and soundless, but I could feel it shaking in my jacket pocket.

Jesse cleared his throat. "The future-teller probably saw us parking the car, getting out, and walking to the door. That should mean that she only knows that we're arriving with Bella. It doesn't mean anything…"

I was suddenly forgotten as Liberty began to discuss strategy. I stepped back quietly and almost dived behind the curtains of the bed, yanking the cell phone from my pocket. The chirpy screen saver announced that Alice Cullen had sent me a text message. I tapped the button to open it.

Alice's phone…

B-

Where r u right now?

Where is E?

Please don't lie, B.

I saw what I saw.

Have you turned on us?

I felt the hidden poison in the letter unleash itself to me. I felt accused and alone. But I brushed it aside in my mind. My only priority right now was to warn my family of the coming of their deaths. Even if they felt like I was betraying them. _But Alice was one to talk_…I thought angrily. She had abandoned us during the Volturi battle and only returned when we finally needed her. If she thought that was what I was doing, she was wrong!

Edward's phone…

Alice & Cullens-

L has attacked E and placed him in coma.

U r going to be attacked.

Be car

Before I could finish the text, the curtain moved back in the swiftest of motions and standing in front of me was Jesse. "Bella, Bella, Bella. You may have fooled us by putting the phone on vibrate but we can hear your fingers on the phone buttons," he purred softly. I swallowed a lump in my throat. Jesse leaned over and reached over to grab the phone from my hands. When I resisted, he narrowed his eyebrows. "Perhaps you want your husband to suffer more…" I released the phone. He peered at the screen, chuckled to himself, and then clicked the End button on the phone. The screensaver reappeared and my text was gone before it had been finished.

My last hope for my family was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

Edward

Edward

I'm covered in a blanket of darkness.

I scarcely breathe.

I hear nothing.

I see nothing.

I am nothing.

Bella.

Renesmee.

Never again will I hold my daughter or my wife.

I close my eyes that cannot see.

I block out the world through ears that cannot hear.

I am alone.

I am darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Bella

_Have you turned on us?_

Alice's words echoed throughout my head as the jet landed in the airport. Since I had not responded to Alice's text, I might as well has placed a large sticker on my head that read TRAITOR. I had tried to convince Jesse to let me respond to Alice's text, to evade any suspicion, but Jesse had refused. "Let them believe what they wish to believe. The only thing that matters is that this immortal child is killed." Jesse then disappeared. I was growing use to watching him disappear in the middle of the conversation.

The jet came to a stop and I waited for the pilot to tell us that it was safe to get off. Claudiena was already unbuckling her seatbelt so I turned to ask her what was going on. "When my illusion went down, the pilot heard our...argument. We took him out." she replied. "Tomas knows a thing or two about planes…" She walked to the bed where Edward rested and flicked her fingers at him. Edward's body rose robotically and began to walk to the door.

We walked swiftly through the airport, avoiding the looks and stares from the lustful and curious eyes of the humans. We walked to the little area in the airport where the chauffeurs stand, holding cards up that read someone's last name. Jennifer looked through the crowd of male chauffeurs who had suddenly looked hopefully at her. She walked purposefully to a man holding up a sign that read, "Pritel family" in large letters.

"G-g-good afternoon, Mrs. Pritel," the man chirped nervously.

Jennifer smiled with fake warmth at the man. "Hello, Frank."

"I brought t-t-the limo as r-r-requested, ma'am."

"Excellent."

"I-I-I was hoping that you c-c-could drop me off back at home base because t-t-this was the car I came in."

"As much as I'd love to, Frank, my family and I are in a terrible rush. Here," she murmured, pulling a hundred-dollar bill from her jacket pocket. "This should help you get a ride home…"

"O-o-of course," the man stuttered, taking the bill from Jennifer's waiting hand. I feared for his life, but saw that Jennifer wore leather gloves lined with thick wool. "T-t-the limo is right t-t-this way…"

We followed the man into the front of the airport, where dozens of taxi cabs lined up, waiting for passengers. The man led us to a white limo-Hummer car. Jennifer thanked him and urged him away to catch a cab. Tomas slipped into the driver seat, and Claudiena released Edward's body from the illusion, so his head rested again on my lap.

At first, we drove in silence. As soon as the airport was out of sight, Jesse reappeared, his eyes glowing with excitement. "What is it?" Jennifer asked.

"The plan is ready," Jesse replied.

_Plan?_

Jennifer turned to me, as if she read my mind. "We came up with a more improved plan. Since you have the label as betrayer on you, we have decided that we only wish to have the immortal child. Therefore, when we arrive, you will go to the house and get the child. We don't care if you are attacked, as long as you bring us the child. If you do not get the child in at least five minutes, we will come in and kill all. If you try to tell them about our deal or you try and trick us…"

"I will see to it that Edward dies," Jesse finished. When I stared at him with disbelief, he smiled, revealing the stark white teeth that all vampires possessed. "When the little parking lot incident occurred, I placed a…charm of some sort over Edward. He is in a state where he cannot hear, see, or feel anything. This means he will not defend himself when I kill him in the other world."

I gaped at him. "You monster!" I finally managed to say.

Jennifer ignored me. "Do we make ourselves clear, Bella? You go in, get the child, and return here in five minutes. Any more and we will kill your family in front of you before we kill you."

I was shaking as I walked up the path towards the house. I saw the curtain shift ever so slightly and I knew that they knew of my arrival. Liberty had parked the car in front of the house, Claudiena's illusion making it seem like I had arrived in a taxi that was now driving away. I approached the door. A mental timer reminded me that I now had four and a half minutes before Liberty would attack. Raising my shield to around me, I took a deep breath in and rang the doorbell.

I waited outside for maybe two and a half seconds before the door opened. Carlisle stood before me. He looked and felt like a stranger; someone who gave you a look when you bumped into them on the street. "Hello, Bella," he said coolly.

"Where is Renesmee?" I asked, ignoring his greeting.

"Far away from here, Bella."

I narrowed my eyes. "Where is she, Carlisle?"

"Somewhere safe from you, Bella. How could you betray us with bringing Liberty home?"

The mental timer rang four minutes. "You're not answering my question. Where is my daughter?"

"Bella, maybe you can sit down with us and we can talk. We still do not understand why you did this to us."

The mental timer announced three and a half minutes. I would have to take evasive action. I crouched and before Carlisle could say anything, I jumped. I went straight up in the air, stopping in front of a large window. I pushed myself foreword and crashed through it. I rolled over on the floor and looked around the room. I had landed in Edward's old room.

I heard footsteps rushing up the steps in inhuman speed. The door threw open and I saw Emmett and Jasper lunge for me. I pulled myself up from my position and skillfully jumped over them. I landed in the hall, where Rosalie stood, snarling viciously. I threw myself over the railing of the stairs and landed like a cat on the floor. But Carlisle and Alice were waiting for me. They tackled me and held me down onto the floor.

I struggled under his hold and I heard a thud as Emmett and Jasper landed on the floor. "Has she told us why she's here yet?" Emmett asked, taking over position for keeping me on the floor.

"No. But I don't understand why she wants Renesmee. Liberty is not outside," Alice replied, peeking out the window.

The timer chimed one minute. "You're all going to die!" I screamed, in an attempt to tell them the truth without giving away too much to Liberty.

Unfortunately, my family didn't understand and thought I was threatening them. "I wouldn't say that, Bella," Jasper replied, "We're the ones holding you down."

"Where is Edward, Bella?" Alice asked quietly, leaning down to my face pressed against the floor.

Thirty seconds. "You're all going to die!" I screamed again.

They still hadn't understood me. "Bella, stop threatening us if you can't even touch us!" Emmett said, getting slightly annoyed.

Fifteen seconds. "You don't understand! You're all going to die!"

Carlisle lifted me up to my feet and looked me up and down. Realization sparked in his eyes. "Bella…who is going to kill us?"

Five seconds. "LIBERTY HAS EDWARD!" I screamed as my timer struck zero.

It took a moment for the words to sink in. "They have Edward?" Rosalie whispered to me.

"Hello everyone."

Everyone jumped and turned to meet Liberty. The door swung, forgotten, behind them. Jennifer stood in front of the pack; her long trench coat and the way she stood making her look powerful and evil. Claudiena stood to her right, hands posed perfectly as spheres in each hand sparkled in the light. Tomas had his fists clenched to his side, as he stood next to Jennifer's left. Jesse was positioned so he was slightly looming over them.

When no one reacted to the grand entrance, Jennifer cocked her head and stepped foreword. "Carlisle, my friend. It has been maybe a century since we last met." She held her hand out to shake his. Carlisle just stared at her hand, removed from its leather glove protection. Jennifer smiled smugly, as if she knew a secret, and dropped her hand. "Oh yes, by the way…" Jesse commented, "Since you did not go through with our little deal, Bella, you and your coven shall suffer the consequences."

Jennifer waved her hands and Tomas jumped into action, holding his hands up so that Rosalie and Alice's body froze. Rosalie's eyes struggled while Alice's eyes looked at me, as if she had been expecting me to protect her. Emmett and Jasper growled furiously at the sight of their frozen mates and they pounced towards Tomas. Claudiena snarled back protectively and held her hands out in their direction. The illusion spheres shot willingly from her hands, and hit Emmett and Jasper in their chests. Jasper gasped, seeing something that wasn't there, and fell to the floor, his body shaking wildly as he groaned in pain. Emmett was also on the floor, his eyelids fluttering as he winced with every imaginary blow of pain.

"That was unnecessary, Jennifer," Carlisle said quietly.

"Ah, Carlisle, but it was all but necessary. Now, where is the immortal child?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, Jennifer. Perhaps we could sit down and talk…"

Jennifer smiled angelically back at Carlisle and raised one delicate pale hand. Claudiena grinned and turned her hands into fists. Jasper's body began to heave up and down at the added pressure, and Emmett was opening his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. I watched with widened eyes, wishing I could do something. I knew I could try to protect everyone, but Claudiena could lash back or Jesse could kill Edward.

Carlisle was also watching, his eyes filling slightly with panic. "Jennifer, if you call off your attacking, I will offer you a deal…"

Jennifer considered it for a moment. "If I stop harming your coven, you will give me the coordinates of the child?" Carlisle nodded slowly. Alice and Rosalie's eyes widened as they tried to tell him no. I looked around the room, wondering where Esme was. She would have been on Carlisle's case immediately, arguing with him for better options.

"Call off your attackers," Carlisle repeated.

"You better not double-cross me, Carlisle, or your dead 'son' shall pay the price," Jennifer retorted as she snapped her fingers twice. Tomas reluctantly released Alice and Rosalie from their frozen prisons and they fell to the floor unsteadily. Claudiena absorbed the energy back from her illusions, and Emmett and Jasper opened their eyes, breathing deeply and heavily. The girls ran to their mates and helped them up, all turning in unison to glare at Tomas and Claudiena.

"The child," Carlisle said slowly, "is with my mate. She has taken her to a location that I have no knowledge of. My mate has written down these coordinates on a piece of paper in my study. Allow me to go get it so I can give it to you…"

Jennifer narrowed her eyes, and then relaxed. "Very well, Carlisle. You have three minutes. Claudiena, escort him." Carlisle began up the steps with Claudiena holding her hand up to his back. Carlisle opened the door of the study and walked cautiously in.

A thought came to me. If Claudiena was out of view, and couldn't see my face or movements, she wouldn't know that I was sending a shield to protect Carlisle. I listened carefully to his steps. He took ten steps to the north, and then five steps to the east. He was standing by the bookcase. Keeping my poker face on, I stretched my shield quietly to the study. My shield crept up the stairs and pulled itself around Carlisle.

Alice squeezed my hand encouragingly. I turned to her slightly and she smiled apologetically. "I've been a jerk, haven't I?" she murmured.

"You could say that," I replied turning back to focus on the study. Carlisle was doing something but I couldn't hear it.

"I'm sorry. I never should have doubted your loyalty."

Before I could reply, Carlisle appeared in front of his study. He walked quickly down the steps, a piece of thick paper in his hands. Claudiena did not follow him. "Where is Claudiena?" Jennifer asked.

"Your clan member thought it would be appropriate to burn all my books," Carlisle replied. I studied his face, which was calm. I knew Carlisle all to well. He would have thrown a fit if that had really happened.

But Jennifer must have forgotten that, for she shrugged and took the paper from his hands. The paper was folded once, with Carlisle's name written in elegant script on the front. Jennifer opened it, and read the coordinates aloud. Tomas reached into a pocket of his long coat and pulled out a handheld GPS system. He tapped the coordinates in. The exact street and house number appeared on the screen. Tomas handed it to Jennifer, who looked at the address and turned to Carlisle.

"I told you not to double cross us, Carlisle."

"I don't understand, Jennifer."

"I believe you do." Jennifer extended the GPS to him. "It's your house address."

Carlisle kept his poker face on. "Well, I guess that means the child is here than."

"You have a vast amount of land that would have to be searched. I have no patience for this nonsense. Where is the child?"

"Patience…Something you never had…dear one."

Everyone turned around, and saw who stood by the door. Jane stood in the front, a dark cloak hiding her features, while Aro stepped foreword, his own cloak sweeping back and forth in the wind.

"The whole gang's here," I heard Emmett mutter.

The Volturi had arrived.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note**- Because Edward is currently in the abyss of darkness, he won't be narrating for this chapter and the next chapter following this one. I didn't want to waste anybody's time by writing another poem or just leaving the chapter blank, so please enjoy another chapter in Bella's point of view. If the next two chapters comes out nicely, I might bring Edward back from the dead. -Geneth

Bella

It became clear to me that this was my family's master plan, and it was utterly brilliant. With the Volturi here, Liberty would back off and return to New York. Although most feared and loathed the Volturi, no clan had the courage or the stupidity to do something against their wishes. The Volturi was the top of the food chain, and any other coven would have to wait in line. With all the violations they had caused, it was almost positive that all of Liberty would be sentenced to death. That is, if death was possible for a person who could revive them all.

Despite seeing most of the Volturi on the doorstep, Jennifer and the rest of the coven seemed unfazed. Jennifer stepped foreword. "Aro, my friend. It has been long since we last had contact. How was the destruction of Jwang Long and his coven in China?"

"They went down rather hard. Jwang Long managed to escape with his mate and one loyal ally," Jane replied, almost cheerfully. Jane didn't quite look like her usual monotonic self. Her hair had grown longer and now hung just under her ears, and she watched Jennifer with an expression that I had never seen before on her childish face. It was admiration.

Aro took a step foreword to meet Jennifer. "It's been a while, dear one. What have you been up to?" He motioned behind her, indicating the rest of us.

"I would have thought you've known about this coven's immortal child by now. I have a witness to the events that confirm that the child is very much real. Tell me, Aro, did you know of the child?" Jennifer asked.

Aro smiled slightly in return. "I did in fact know of the child, dear one, and it was dismissed by the court as perfectly harmless."

Jennifer chuckled blackly at his reply, clearly unconvinced. "Jane, darling," she said, turning to Jane, "Tell me, why was this child removed as 'harmless'?"

"The child was confirmed to be a half-breed conceived and born by the human form of that one," Jane replied, motioning towards me, "The child is mostly a human, but has a thirst of blood like vampires. The child sleeps, but grows like a normal human. The child speaks, but also has a gift that can be played in the mind."

"I would like to see that," Jennifer replied bluntly.

Aro turned to Carlisle. "Where is little Renesmee now?"

"She is coming with my mate as we speak," Carlisle replied. The soft thudding of footprints in the background confirmed this, but it sounded like more than ten people were running. Jennifer arched her eyebrows to Claudiena, who began to prepare illusion spheres in her hands. "Perhaps it would be best if we went outside," Carlisle suggested. Everyone followed him out to the backyard.

As we stepped outside, I immediately saw Esme with Renesmee by her side. Renesmee spotted me in the mob and waved energetically, unaware of the dangerous vampires that stood beside me. At first, I was relieved and I waved back. Then, I saw the poisonous looks from Jacob and the other werewolves who lingered in the shadows of the woods. But, as Liberty stepped out into the area, the looks stopped and filled with understanding. Jacob shot me a concerned look. "I'm fine," I mouthed.

"I see you have more supporters for the child," Jennifer murmured as she surveyed the area. She turned to Carlisle. "Bring the child foreword."

Carlisle turned to Esme, who set Nessie on Jacob's back. Jacob walked quickly, and stopped so he stood a yard and three inches away from the little herd in front of the door. Jennifer and Jesse began to walk towards Nessie. Jacob shifted his position, so he now stood protectively with Nessie peering over his shoulder to see the new strangers.

They now stood in front of Nessie, who smiled at them. "What is your name, little one?" Jennifer asked. Her voice was forcefully sweet, as if she was coaxing Nessie to do something, but had a bit of spitefulness and bitterness attached to it. Jacob bared his teeth at her but Jesse snarled back in response.

Renesmee peeked over Jennifer to me. I smiled and nodded for her to speak. "My name is Renesmee Cullen, but my family calls me Nessie," she said in her familiar soprano voice, which I immediately noticed had tuned a note higher since we last spoke.

"Nice to meet you, Renesmee," Jennifer replied, with false interest, "I've heard that you have a power that plays in the mind. Would you mind showing me?"

Nessie reached over and extended her finger to Jennifer's forehead. Jennifer didn't flinch or react to the power that Nessie possessed, which was unusual for someone who had experienced Nessie's power. When her eyes refocused, Jennifer stepped backward and didn't say anything. I did a silent victory dance in my mind. I quietly hoped Jennifer was convinced.

Jesse stepped up towards Nessie. "Hello, little one. Would you mind…?"

Renesmee laughed. "Not at all." She reached over and touched his forehead. For a few moments, they just stood there, Nessie silently explaining everything. Nessie closed her eyes to concentrate further and Jacob turned his head towards Sam, communicating to the other pack as well. Everyone watching also relaxed and some of the Volturi began to start mild conversations.

Then I saw something that set Jesse apart from all of the other vampires that Renesmee had touched.

His eyes were not defocused. In fact, they were now narrowing, concentrating as well. Suddenly, so fast I wasn't exactly sure it happened, a small black dot flew quickly out of Jesse's forehead and entered Renesmee's finger. It slowly began to creep up her arm and disappeared under the sleeve of her shirt. It appeared on her neck and slowly made its way up until it was at her forehead. The dot then seeped into her head. Nessie's eyes flew open and the pupils began to dilate, growing bigger then shrinking again. The chocolate brown of her eyes was darkening quickly, until it was a dull onyx. She dropped her hand robotically and I realized what had happened.

The instant I realized what happened, everyone else in the mob realized what happened. I broke from the mob before anyone could stop me and stopped in front of her. Jacob looked up worriedly. "Nessie?" I said, kneeling in front of her. Her eyes were blank and no expression showed on her face. Jacob growled to her and again, no response.

I turned to face Jesse. "You monster! What did you do to my child?!"

"I simply took over her mind," Jesse explained quietly.

Aro cleared his throat. "Jennifer, dear one, wasn't it clear that you were not to harm the child?"

Jennifer turned to Aro. "Actually, it was never reinforced." Smiling blackly, she snapped her fingers. I knew all to well what was happening, even if it happened in a mere millisecond. The waiting illusion spheres shot out of Claudiena's hands and created a large barrier in front of the group standing by the house. The wolves and Esme now stood frozen, like beautiful wax figures, as their eyes rolled and shifted curiously around in their sockets.

The mob standing by the house tried to push foreword, but Claudiena's barrier made them smack into it like a piece of invisible glass stood there. "Dear one, what are you doing?" Aro called out.

"She would make a wise addition to my growing coven, Aro. My true purpose in coming to Forks was not to kill the child, but offer it a place on the true most powerful coven in the entire world. Everyone always believed that the Volturi was at the top, when all along it has been us. And now," she said, motioning towards Renesmee, "We have our final addition." Jesse flicked his eyes towards Renesmee. Controlled by him, she jumped off Jacob's back and walked towards Jennifer and Jesse, only stopping when she was at Jennifer's side.

"You can't do that!" I exclaimed angrily at them.

"We all but can, Bella," Jesse replied. "Who's going to stop us?"

Infuriated by his words, I pounced at him. My pounce became in slow motion in my mind. As I was approaching Jesse from the air, I saw Claudiena's shield reach out to protect him. Luckily, she missed and instead tripped me. As I began to fall, I again reached out to grab Jesse. But Jennifer now stood in his place.

Her fingers met mine.

At first, I felt protected because of my shield. So I was naturally confused as to why I fell to the ground and was suddenly squashed by a large force of strength. A dozen invisible daggers stabbed mercilessly at my sides, and a hand was squeezing my insides and my heart. Then, I remembered. Claudiena's shield had been exposed to mine a few moments before I came in contact with Jennifer. My shield had been canceled out by Claudiena, and Jennifer's attack had gotten through to me.

The pain was attacking me. Jacob was struggling to lift up my head and try to get me going again, but I remained down. My vision was blurry at the corners now, and a rope began to squeeze my neck. An ocean of darkness began to surround me, and I could no longer feel Jacob's head trying to coax mine back up. I tried to struggle, but found it growing harder as the pain grew harsher.

I couldn't stop it anymore.

I released myself into the dark world.


	13. Chapter 13

Bella

Waking up was a peculiar but somewhat familiar thing to me, as I sat up in a large, king-sized bed. The events that had sent me to my death lingered in my mind, but I shook them off to try to focus on my new surroundings. The area was all of the same white color, and stretched for miles and miles down from east to west. I looked down to my clothing, and saw that I wore an irritable white silk dress. Tempted to rip the clothing off my back, I turned back to the large white bed when I saw a peculiar thing lying on the opposite side of the bed.

It looked almost like a cocoon, but had dark silky threads of crimson and black weaving in and out of it. I poked it quickly with my finger and felt that it was slightly sticky but would break if I tore at it. I felt a rush of hunger come over me, and shook my head, trying to concentrate. I hadn't hunted since a few days before my departure to New York. I was supposed to be hunting with Edward and Nessie; it was somewhat of our quality time together. The large white world was empty, and this would be my only food source. I wasn't even sure if the creature within the cocoon was an animal or not.

The new world had caused my hungriness to rise, so I reached over and tore off a long piece of the cocoon. Holding the blackish crimson piece in my hand, I peeked in the hole to see what was inside. A familiar white hand rested on the side of a familiar body. The hand twitched slightly, unsure if it was free from the threads. I touched it gently and the hand reacted, pulling back at first but then reaching out to me. I moved over and freed the other hand of the cocoon, revealing another familiar side of a body. Could it be…?

I began to tear faster into the threads, throwing piece after piece behind me. After watching me rip, the hands I freed began to join the tearing. The last piece was the top of the cocoon. I leaned over, and pulled it off slowly, almost as if I was unmasking a thief. The beautiful face that I'd never thought I'd see was in front of me. His eyes opened and he blinked, clearing the remaining threads out of his eyes. He turned his head to look at me. "Bella? You're dead too?"

"You could say that…" I mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

Edward grinned my favorite crooked smile, and sat up quickly at an inhuman speed. He leaned in to kiss me. I missed the touch of his lips, and I quickly hooked my arms around his neck, pulling him into me. When he pulled away, he looked at me with sudden seriousness in his eyes. "So what's happening right now?

I gave him a brief retell, ending with my fall and Renesmee's new controller. Edward frowned, and then looked away in thought. "It's almost as I suspected…" When I looked at him curiously, he explained. "It came to me that Jesse controls this world of his. But how can someone control a place where souls stay in limbo, where he can hear me screaming and feel pain when I stab at the floor? It took me some thinking in the cocoon but I now see it. Jennifer doesn't kill people. She sends them into Jesse's head."

"His head?"

"Yes. That's how he can disappear to talk to us so easily. He's simply going into his mind. Which means he doesn't have the power to revive the dead; he simply has the powers of the mind. This can also explain why he took over Nessie's mind; he can do it easily. But why would he lie and say that he can revive them?"

"It's probably to mask a hidden power that can probably be useful if it were a secret," I suggested.

A ghostly chuckle sounded next to me. We turned and saw Jesse, apparently the Jesse that he thought he looked like, standing aimlessly next to the bed. "So you've got it all figured out?" Jesse asked. When we didn't respond, he chuckled again. "Believe whatever you wish, but I don't have these mind powers as you think. What I did was simply a magic trick of hypnotists."

"A simple magic trick shouldn't have controlled our daughter to your will," I replied angrily.

Jesse shrugged. "Whatever. Anyways, I have a treat for you. I'm going to show you the fall of your beloved family." He snapped his fingers, and the white world filled with color. After a few moments, we were standing in the backyard looking over my frozen body. I winced automatically, and Edward slipped his hand around my waist to try to relax me. "I'll leave you here," Jesse said absently, disappearing, only to reappear as the normal Jesse next to Jennifer.

Jacob was snarling furiously at Liberty, showing all of his teeth. Tomas and Claudiena looked as if they wanted to shut him up, but their hands were occupied with keeping the prisons up for the wolves and the angry mob by the door. Jennifer was bent over on the ground, her hands forming something too fast for me to see. She placed another log down on the ground and stepped back to admire her work. Jennifer turned to the crowd by the door. "You, you, and you," she said, pointing to Emmett, Jasper, and Felix, "Get me Edward's body. It's in the limo up front." They blinked at her. "NOW!" she ordered.

When they returned with Edward's corpse, Claudiena shut the barrier down around them. Free from the imprisonment, Emmett and Jasper looked like they wanted to lash out and attack Liberty. As if she could read their minds, Jennifer smiled darkly at them. "If you try and attack me, you'll drop Edward." Both blinked, while Felix rolled his eyes to himself, and they brought the body up to lay next to mine. Jennifer waved her hands to them and they returned to the group.

"Jane, darling," Jennifer called, "Could you please fetch the kitchen matches?"

"Matches?" I said in disbelief.

"She's going to burn us," Edward said through gritted teeth.

I reached to hold Edward's hand, and squeezed it to get out my sudden tension. If I had still had my newborn strength, Edward's hand would have been reduced to dust. Edward squeezed back, but didn't look away from the scene unfolding in front of us.

Jane reappeared and handed the matches to Jennifer, who smiled approvingly at her. "Jane, you are like the little prodigy I never had," she commented. Jane smiled back, showing dimples in each cheek. Jennifer bent down to whisper in her ear, even though everyone could hear. "When this is all over, how would you like to join Liberty? You would make a lovely team with Renesmee." Everyone in my family growled in response, but the Volturi started to growl to when Jane replied, "Perhaps…"

Jennifer took out a match and lit the pile of logs in front of her. Everyone focused on the small flame that sprouted as Jennifer lit the match. As she threw the flame onto the logs, I watched as Jacob crouched down slightly. I didn't have an exact clue as to what he was doing, but I nudged Edward and pointed it out to him.

The second the flames lit so they were at the sky, Jacob pounced. His jump was not aggressive, and looked as if he had did it to precise detail. He smashed into Jesse, who was surprised by this action. As he flailed to the ground, reaching for something to help him so his fall wouldn't be so hard, he found something to grab in each hands. Using these objects, he pushed off them to stand to his feet. Jacob was grinning his wolfish grin. Jennifer's face was the face of horror and destruction. Claudiena and Tomas's mouths hung. The mob in front of the door cheered. The frozen one's eyes shined with approval.

Jesse had touched our bodies.


	14. Chapter 14

Edward

Edward

I awoke yet again but this time with a better feeling in my body. The bed I now rested on was rough and I could feel the spiky feeling of uncut grass on my back. The air was thick with the scent of smoke and burning wood. I could hear the vampires and wolves in the background, holding in breaths as they waited for movement from me. I twitched my fingers and dramatically opened my eyes. The sky above me was blue, and I saw the clouds passing in the sky. I sat up and looked around.

Jennifer stood by a large pile of burning logs, her mouth angrily set. Claudiena and Tomas looked worried, as they continued to hold their prisons up. Nessie looked as Bella had described her, lifeless and controlled. Her eyes were the dull black of onyx and her pupils continually grew bigger and smaller. I looked next to me; to Bella's body and watched her come to life. Her fingers wiggled as she got the feeling back into them, and she opened her eyes to her surroundings. She sat up and turned to grin sheepishly at me.

I got to my feet and stared at Jennifer. Her eyes narrowed. _I'd never thought we'd see you again, Edward. _she thought angrily.

"Too bad you never got a chance," I replied, helping Bella to her feet.

_Oh please. How can two vampires take down four vampires? You're clearly outnumbered. You might as well let me pinch you so you can renter your world of pain and suffering again_.

"That's when you're wrong," I said, before jumping into the air. I flew skillfully through the air, over Jennifer and Jesse's heads, and rolled to the ground in front of Tomas. Tomas stiffened in panic. He couldn't attack me because he was holding back the wolves and Esme, and if he released them, more people would attack him. But before he could make a choice, I tackled him to the ground, pinning his hands behind him. His hold dropped on the wolves and Esme, and they immediately moved to get the feeling back into their bodies. Bella and Jacob exchanged looks and grinned at each other. Following my lead, they jumped into the air and tackled Claudiena to the ground, unleashing the hold on the group in front of the house.

_You're making a mistake, Edward. We can still easily take you down._

I turned my head slightly to Jennifer. "Again, you're wrong, Jennifer."

_Oh?_ She grinned sinisterly to me. I heard a growl next to me and turned to see a dozen spheres shoot out of Claudiena's hands before Bella or Jacob could prevent her. The spheres formed into the shapes of bodies, and suddenly a dozen copies of Claudiena stood before me. Each illusion of Claudiena held up its hands and made a dozen copies of Tomas, Jennifer, Jesse, Renesmee, and Jane. They also formed a bunch of new vampires that I had never seen before, but all looked highly dangerous. The illusions turned to look at the group by the woods and the group by the house. They moved into attack. Immediately, the vampires and wolves reacted, snarling and pouncing right back.

Tomas slithered from my grip and rolled to his feet. I jumped up as well and, almost in unison, we jumped up and pounced at each other. Claudiena also broke free from Jacob and Bella, and they started fighting next to us. Tomas was skilled with his moves; each attack of frozen movements missing me by a few inches each time I dodged. Each move I made missed him by a few inches as well.

Alice and Jasper fought Jesse and Nessie in the middle of the new battlefield. Jesse showed his true strength of his mind powers, picking up large rocks with his mind to smash into Jasper, and creating the small black monsters that had once imprisoned me. Alice was having a tough time with Nessie because as much as she wanted to attack her, she couldn't because it was still Nessie, only controlled by Jesse. The only thing Alice could do was dodging as fast as she could.

It was an image that no vampire would believe was possible unless they saw it with their own eyes: The Volturi working together with vampires and the werewolves. Rosalie, Emmett, and Carlisle were working on the illusions with the werewolves attacking as well. Most of the Volturi were double-teaming against a group of illusions, with the exception of two vampires. Aro watched, but showed no intention of joining in. He could have helped with the pouncing and the ripping but just stood by the sidelines. Jane, who supposedly belonged to Liberty now, stood quietly, almost entertained by the battles around her. Although each illusion possessed the powers of the real Liberty clan, with one punch to any part of the body, the illusion would disappear, making it easy to kill them. The only downside to the illusions was that each time an illusion died, the copies of Claudiena would create another one.

As Tomas held up his hands to throw another frozen attack to me, I rolled down and hid behind a rock. That's when a reminder suddenly rang off in my mind. If I blocked Tomas's hands, he couldn't attack me anymore. And as I hid there behind the rock, I realized something that I hadn't seen before. Each member of Liberty had a power that required that they have access to their hands. That was their true weakness: without their hands, they were useless and weak!

_Hiding, now are we? _The bug on the top of the rock froze, and I rolled out from behind the rock and to my feet. Tomas was pressing his hands together, charging one big attack. I peeked quickly over Tomas's shoulder and saw back porch of the house. A container of garbage bags sat by the ledge of it. An idea popped into my head and I looked back to Tomas. Tomas threw the frozen attack to me, but I ran to my right and kept running towards the porch. _Where we going now?_ Tomas thought, as he started to chase me.

It would have been easier to reach the porch if the area between where I had fought and the porch were clear. I ran around battle after battle, trying hard to avoid any attacks that missed its target or any attack meant for me by one of the illusions. When I finally reached the porch, I ran straight for the bag and fumbled with the opening seal. Tomas was right on my trail, jumping over the heads of the battling to land in a rolling crouch in front of me. The bag pulled loose and I jumped, somersaulting over his head to land behind him. Before he could freeze me, I jammed the bag over his hands, yanking the ties into place. Tomas laughed darkly. _A garbage bag? You place a garbage bag over my hands and think that this will hold me?_

"Indeed I do," I said quietly, showing him the container that held the bags. On it, in large bold letters were the words **REFLECTIVE PLASTIC**. "If you try and freeze me," I said, "you will instead freeze yourself."

Tomas narrowed his eyes and snarled at me, rolling his lips up slightly to reveal his sharp white teeth. I pushed him slightly of the porch and kept kicking until he was under the deck. "You should stay under there, unless you want to get hurt." I suggested, running back to the battle with the container of bags in my hands.

Bella and Jacob were having increasing difficulty with Claudiena. Claudiena quickly formed illusions of hideous, monstrous creatures that attacked Bella and Jacob as they tried to attack her. A white gorilla-like creature took a swipe at Bella, who rolled away just in time but bumped into a creature that resembled a hawk and a horse put together. Jacob pounced at a rhino that had octopus legs and ripped angrily at its sides. I slipped quietly behind Claudiena, who was too obsessed with creating new creatures to notice me. I pulled the bag out from the container and yanked it around her hands. The creatures instantly disappeared, dropping Jacob to the ground ripping at the air and Bella protecting herself from the blow from the white gorilla creature that never came. I pulled at the ties, and Claudiena scrunched up her face in fury. She tried to make another illusion creature, but then screamed in pain when the plastic reflected the blow back at her.

Bella and Jacob ran to me, curious to know what had caused the sudden destruction of Claudiena's creatures. I told them my theory and showed them the bags. _That's actually pretty bright_, Jacob commented. _If we can get the bags onto Jennifer, we can try to force Jesse to call of his forces, get Nessie back, and make them back up and go home. _"That's the point," I said to Jacob.

Claudiena's screams of pain sounded again as she tried to make something to set her free. An illusion of her shot a beam at us, trying to help. I lifted Claudiena and placed her facedown on Jacob's back. "Bring her under the deck as fast as you can," I said, "Tomas is also there. If we want to talk to them later, we're going to need her in one piece." _Gotcha_. I leaned down to Claudiena. "Hold on tight," I hissed into her ear before Jacob ran off. "Let's go," I said to Bella and we raced off to find Jennifer.

Although everyone had joined into the fighting, Jennifer had not. When I first started to battle Tomas, I noticed that Jennifer had cartwheeled backwards once and had disappeared into the woods. This puzzled and amused me slightly, for I knew that the vampire who could kill with one touch was hiding out in the woods. As I ran with Bella into the woods, I listened into the thoughts of everyone, trying to find Jennifer's thoughts among many.

_This is would be fun if it weren't so serious as well! _Emmett was enjoying himself, pouncing and attacking the illusions that only needed a flick of the finger to disappear.

_Hey Edward! How are we doing? _Seth thought as he tackled an illusion of Claudiena before it could attack him.

_Have to get to a phone so I can contact Fiora…Where is the next damn house?! Huh…what do we have here? _

"Bella," I said, nudging her, "She's at our house."

The run there was aggressive and fast. I listened closely and heard the door of the cottage close as Jennifer stepped inside. As we pulled ourselves to a stop in front of the house, Bella began to mumble under her breath. "Breaking into our house…She'd better not take anything except for those silk or satin dresses…Yeah, I don't care about those…"

I carefully turned the knob of house and we stepped inside. The house was still and nothing seemed out of place. I listened quietly to the sounds of the pipes running through the house and the sound of bugs from outside. Then I heard the pressing of numbers coming from Bella and my room. Bella heard it too and narrowed her eyes. We began to creep towards the room, listening to the conversation.

_Hello? Who's this?_

"Fiora, it's me."

_Oh, hey Jennifer. Is it time to move into attack?_

"We've already advanced to that. I need you to get Tasha, Kianna, Kenneth, and Omar and get here now."

_No problem. If you don't mind us taking the chopper, we'll be there in maybe a half hour._

"Not a half hour, Fiora. We will probably have surrendered by then and we'll be taken down by the foolish members of the Volturi."

_Umm…okay, if we run and don't get into traffic, we should be there in maybe… fifteen minutes._

"Good. See you later." Jennifer was in our sights now, sitting by the

built-in closet. She had her back turned and was shutting off the phone that I had hidden in the closet; it was supposed to be a surprise gift for Bella. Bella took the bag from me. I raised my eyebrows and she gave me a pleading look. I shrugged and moved over so she could advance. She slipped the bag over Jennifer's hands and yanked the ties of it. Jennifer didn't struggle and instead looked calmly up to us. "I have more on their way," she said, "So you might as well prepare for round two."

"That's what you think," I said, pulling her to her feet.

When we arrived back to the battlefield, most of the illusions were gone. The werewolves had taken down all of the illusions of Claudiena, and the rest slowly began to come down. Jesse was still not giving up, summoning the black monsters to try to attack whoever got in his way. But more people were turning to battle him, for the illusions quickly disappeared and soon, Jesse and his creatures were all that were left. Jasper had handed his battle over to Emmett and was helping Alice hold down Nessie, who struggled under their grip.

Jesse turned and saw Jennifer calmly walking to the field. She mouthed something to him, and he reluctantly waved his hands over his monsters, which quickly turned to nothingness. Nessie stopped struggling and instead blinked, her eyes returning chocolate brown and her pupils dilating back to a more normal size.

After fetching Claudiena and Tomas from under the deck, we stood them on the hill, next to the now dying flames of the fire. "You have tried to defeat us," Aro said to Jennifer, leaning down so his face was in hers, "Yet you failed. What do you have to say?"

Jennifer cocked her head and looked up to Aro. "As I said to Edward," she replied coolly, "More forces are on their way. Why bother threatening us when you should be preparing for the upcoming attackers?"

Everyone exchanged looks. _Edward, is this true?_ Esme asked in her mind. I nodded and she sighed. Alice had zoned off as she looked into the future, and when she refocused her eyes, she nodded in agreement with me. "I see five new vampires on the horizon. They come to talk though, not to fight."

"That's what you think," Jesse mumbled under his breath.

Aro ignored them and turned to Caius and Marcus. "What do you think we should do to them?"

"I say we kill them," Caius suggested.

"I agree," Carlisle mumbled under his breath.

"They have caused us all pain and threaten us all," I said as Sam.

"Very well. If there are no witnesses or objections, we will proceed to sentence them." Silence answered Aro's words. "Very well then. The coven of Liberty is sentenced to…"

"Wait!" a voice called.

We stopped and looked around, all wondering who had said that.

"We're here to witness for Liberty and we object!" another voice added.

I turned and saw five figures standing on the hill next to the woods, their long coats swishing after them from the wind. "You're here to testify?" Aro asked the figure standing in the front of the pack.

The figures raced down the hill, at an inhuman speed, to stand in front of us. They were all pale skinned, with topaz colored eyes. "I am Fiora," introduced the leader of the pack. "This is Tasha, Kianna, Kenneth, and Omar. And yes, we're here to testify."

As Fiora finished speaking, Bella tensed next to me.

Round two was about to begin.

**UPDATE **The second story is here! Moonrise is told in the perspective of Bella and my own original character, Fiora, who's the leader of the coven that's coming to witness (no Edward this time). Enjoy! -Geneth


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